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Food Hack to Address the Issue of Food Safety and Security in Nova Scotia

In a province rich with natural resources and famous for its apples, blueberries and lobster, it would be hard to fathom that so many people living in Nova Scotia face food insecurity. Yet many Nova Scotians struggle to afford food and feed their families while living in a province with an abundance of food resources.

"It's a problem that's difficult to define and not everyone agrees on what the problem actually is and also what the solution needs to be," says Jennifer Brady, assistant professor in the department of applied human nutrition at Mount Saint Vincent University. "And often times one solution ends up exacerbating different aspects of the problem."

On February 19 and 20, students from five universities and colleges in Halifax are going to try at Food Hack Nova Scotia, an innovation challenge will take place at Saint Mary's University.

In a multi-institutional partnership between the Nova Scotia Community College, Mount Saint Vincent University and Saint Mary's University, NSCAD University and the Atlantic School of Theology this event will be held for the first time and is a brand new forum for this kind of discussion in Nova Scotia. "With two days of intense and immersive work, combined with hands on training, mentoring, and peer learning, it is the perfect environment to turn ideas into reality," says Jordan Landry, manager of entrepreneurship with NSCC. "We expect ideas to collide and lead to the kind of creativity that allows for truly great projects and businesses to start."

Landry says the Hack is essentially a challenge for students to explore these issues from as many angles a possible. "We expect to see all sorts of solutions and business ideas from our students, some of which will be techbased, while others may involve flipping existing business models, taking products to new markets and even developing campaigns."